Well, I had heard of heritage structures, heritage walks, heritage conservation and so on but a heritage tree was something unique. Come to think of it why not considering that some trees live for hundreds of years...
In a perfect coincidence, my tree for the day is the Pilu or Salvadora persica which I have seen in the lawns of the Qutub Minar in Delhi. Our guide told us that this tree is really really old and the tree trunk showed its age. It belongs to the Salvadoraceae family and is also called Meswak.
There are several of these in the complex so do take a while to spot and admire then if you do visit Qutub Minar. They have gnarled trunks with elliptic to oblong leaves with entire margins and arranged oppositely on the stems. We were lucky to see the fruits that were really beautiful glassy looking red globule like structures.
According to my field botany teachers, this tree is a mangrove associate so how come its flourishing in dry Delhi is a bit of a surprise to me.
Have you visited Qutub Minar? Have you spotted these trees?
I am participating in Parul's #ThursdayTreeLove27. Head over there to see some lovely trees from around the world.
In a perfect coincidence, my tree for the day is the Pilu or Salvadora persica which I have seen in the lawns of the Qutub Minar in Delhi. Our guide told us that this tree is really really old and the tree trunk showed its age. It belongs to the Salvadoraceae family and is also called Meswak.
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| Leaves |
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| Fruits |
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| One of the trees has this massive trunk which has some infestation |
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| As you can see one of the trees has fallen possibly weakened by some infection or due to weather conditions |
According to my field botany teachers, this tree is a mangrove associate so how come its flourishing in dry Delhi is a bit of a surprise to me.
Have you visited Qutub Minar? Have you spotted these trees?
I am participating in Parul's #ThursdayTreeLove27. Head over there to see some lovely trees from around the world.
6 comments:
I liked the massive trunk, great pictures :)
Thanks Angela! I liked that trunk too :)
That is amazing, Archana. We may well have some "heritage" trees where I live in upstate New York but they aren't labeled as such. But I did visit an interesting grove once, in Rochester, New York - they weren't heritage trees but had been planted over 100 years before.
Never heard of a heritage tree before. But why not? I have been to the Qutub several times but was more in awe of the monument and didn't really notice the trees. The next time I visit I definitely will pay special attention to the trees that will forever be imprinted in my mind as the toothpaste tree since I will associated Meswak with the toothpaste of that brand. (I have strange mnemonic). Thanks for sharing.
So that is Meswak. Heard of that but never saw. Even in pictures. And I also haven't visited the Qutub Minar so this post is just perfect. Thank you for sharing those shots and joining, Archana.
Happy to participate Parul.. Gives me an opportunity to dig through old photo albums... Thank you :)
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